Typewriting machine



Nov. 10, 1925- J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING mourns Filed 001:. 20, 1923 2Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 10, 1925- 1,560,738

I J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE il d 0 1;, go, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Q Attorney Patented Nov. 10, 1925. I

PATENT OF Fv -v;

JESSE a. a. stun, or s'rmronn, connac'rrcur, ASSIGNOB 'ro UNDERWOODmnwarren 001mm, on NEW man, n. Y., A COBPOfRA'IION-OF'DELAWABE.

rrr'nwmmc amount-E.

. Application filed October 20, 1923- Serial N0. 888,687.

To all wluom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JESSE A; B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing in Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticuhhave invented certain new and ,useful Improvements inTypewriting Machines, of which the following is a Specification. v Thisinvention relates to means in a typewriting machine for assisting thetyping of individual monthly payrolls day by day, in

T which operation it is required to insert the individual pay-rollsheets one by one to the appropriate date line each day for typing thecurrent entry. The invention is also useful forv other purposes.

It 's desirable to arrange the pay-roll sheets in a defin'ite'order, sayal habetically,

and to preserve this order until the sheets have been fully typed, sothat the memoranda from which each days entries are i iyhped may bearranged in similar order.

is obviates the necessity for shuflling through the memoranda for thedata to be ty d on the sheets. It is'also desirable 'to resi lce as muchas possible the handlin of the sheets, both in introducing them anremoving them from the machine, since the amount of time required inhandling the sheets is necessarily very large as compared with the timer In accordance with the present invention, provision 1s made ofa-hopper on the car- "riage above and at the front of the platen forholding the sheets in conveniently accessible position for introductionto the platen, and provision is also made of a chute for l guiding thesheets 'from the hopper down to the platen at the front thereof. *Thepayroll'sheets are arranged in the hopper in the order in which they areto be type and are fed to the'machine one by one, each sheet ends of theworksheets out of the hopper,

and an upwardly-extending handle on the rock-shaft which includes afinger-piece adjacent the upper end of the hopperi uired for the actualtyping of the usual sing e-line entries. Y

floor by actuating the finger-piecefor that The outer purpose with thering-finger. work-sheet is then allowed to dropdown a chute to aposition between the typed worksheet and the platen, and the finer-piece is released to permit the return of t e other work-sheets totheir original positions in the hopper. If. the line to be typed on thenewly-inserted sheet falls behind the previously-typed sheet, thenewly-inserted sheet may be held by'pressing it against the rear, wallof the hopper while the platen is'reversely rotated. until the upperedge of the previously-typed sheet uncovers the-desired writing line,after which the sheets may be fed in unison. The platen-is then rotatedbackward tobring the last previously typed line of the newly-insertedsheet to the printing point. The line-space lever is then operated, andthis brings a line of writing exactly one line-space from the lastprevious line to the printing point, and also linespaces atally-stripthat passes between the work-sheet and the platen, the tally-stripserving as a'composite record of all the entries.

The work-sheets are discharged at the rear 05 of the dplaten, and areautomatically accumulate in the order of typing, which is the same orderin which they were arranged in the hopper, without attention from theoperator. To enable'this to be done, provision is made ofa'sheet-accumulating receptacle at the rear of the platen. Thisreceptacle includes the usual rear paper-table, an ex-' tension thereofto accommodate sheets of the required len th, and .side walls. The sidewalls are adjustable indeoendently of each other to vary the width ofthe receptacle inaecordan e with the 'widthiofthe work and to locatesaid walls in alignment with the side walls of the hopper andguide-chute.

When the days entries are completed, the.

for the sections of thehopper various adjusted positions of the hopperscale as weight of the work-sheets.-

be utilized to locate the hopper and chute in different desired fieldsof the platen and in the desired relation to the tally-strip. Therock-shaft forming part of the sheetiejecting mechanism serves also as abrace to prevent other under the The sheet-ejecting arms are adjustablealong the rock-shaftto enable them to pass through openings formed inthe rear wall of the hopper in their sagging "toward each sections.

The hopper and front-insertion chute are mounted on a bar which isdetachably supported on brackets at the front of the machine. The hopperand front-insertion chute may therefore be quickly removed from themachine when not desired for use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

v In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a part of a bookkeepingmachine having the present improvements applied thereto.

Figure 2' is a sectional side elevation on a smaller scale, showing themanner in which the sheet to be inserted is separated from the pack anddirected to the platen.

1 Figure 3 is a front elevation, on the same Figure 2, of substantiallythe same,

1 portion of the machine shown in Figure 1.

' against a cylindrical platen 13. The

Upon depression of type-keys I (not shown), type-bars 11 are swungupwardly and rearwardly to cause types 12 to'print p aten 13 isjournaled'by its axle 14 in end plates 15 of a platen-frame 16 mountedin a traveling carria e 17. Feed-rolls 18, which are controlled by theusual cast-off means (not shown), co-operate with the platen 13 to feedthe Work-sheets, the platen being arranged to be rotated by either ofthe knobs 19 or by line-space mechanism comprising a line-space lever20, a line-space slide 21, a pawl 22 and a ratchet-wheel 23 fast to theplaten-axle14.

Tally-strip mechanism similar to .that disclosed in the patent to Hart,No. 1,281,160,

' dated October 8, 1918, may be provided, the

tally-strip T serving as a composite record of all the days entries.Briefly, such tallystrip mechanism is mounted on brackets 24 upon theends of the platen-frame 16, and

includes a receiving spool 25 which is driven through suitable gearingfrom a shaft 26 journaled in the brackets 24. The shaft 26 is rotatedstep by step by the line-space mechanism to draw the tally-strip T froma delivery spool 27 that is loosely mounted on a rod 28 journaled in thebrackets 24. Connections for this purpose comprise a link 29 connectedto the line-space slide 21, an

arm 30 loose on the shaft 26, a pawl 31 on the arm 30, and aratchet-wheel 32 fast on the shaft 26, and against which the pawl 31 isyieldingly pressed. It will be understood that the operation of theline-space lever 20 advances the inserted pay-roll sheet A and t-hetally-strip T in unison.

.For use in storing a stack S of pay-roll sheets in convenientlyaccessible position ready for typing, and for guiding them to the platenat the front thereof, a combined front guide chute and hopper is mountedat the front of the platen by means of atransverse bar 33,having slottedends 34'to engage with headed studs 35, mounted on brackets 36 supportedby a transverse rod 37 connecting the ends of the platen-frame 16, andby the shaft 26 and rod 28. The combined guide chhte and hoppercomprises two separate sections 38 and 39, each mounted for adjustmentalong the bar 33 by means of headed screws 40 which are threaded intothe bar 33 and are received in slots 41 in the sections 38 and 39. Thesections 38 and 39 have continuous side members 42 extending down to theplaten 13, which serve as'side guides or gages for squaring the sheetsand directing them to the desired field of the platen, and which alsoserve as the side walls of the hopper. itself includes, in addition tothe side members 42, a bottom or floor portion 43 extending backward andslightly downward from the upper end of the chute 44, and a rear wallportion 45 extending upward and rearward from the floor-portion 43.Fingers 42" are turned in from the side members 42 to prevent aceidentaldislodgment of the worksheets from the hopper.

Ears. 46 on the side members 42 of the hopper project form bearings fora rock-shaft 47 that extends longitudinally of the platen. Collars 48may be adjustably secured by set screws 49 upon the rock-shaft 47 toabut the ears 46 and prevent the sagging of the hoppersections 38 and 39toward each other under the weight of the work-sheet stack S.Downwardly-extending arms 50 are adjust- 1 ably secured h set screws 51upon the rockshaft 47, and

gers 52 at their lower ends which may be rojected through holcs53 in therear wall 45v of the hopper to thrust the lower end of the stack S clearof the hopper-floor 43 when introducing the first sheet B thereof to therear thereof and iave forwardly-extending finv The sectional hopper atthe front of the platen. An operating handle 54 fast on the rock-shaft47 extends upwardly therefrom at one side of the hopper, and has at itsupper end a fingerpiece 55 whereby the rock-shaft 47 may be rocked tocause the lower ends of the worksheets to be thrust forward clear of thehopper-floor 43. A return spring 56 is connected to the handle .54 andto the hopper for restoring the handle and the-connected rock-shaft 47'and arms 50 to their normal positions when the handle is released bythe operator. Such normal positions are determined by engagen'icnt of astop 57 on the handle witl-rthe rear wall of the hopper.

The finger-piece is so located that the operator may grip the uppermargin of the first work-sheet B between the thumb and forefinger, clampthe remainder of the stack S against the rear wall 45 of the'hopper withthe middle finger of the same hand, and actuate the handle 54 with thering-finger of the same hand. This operation is illustrated in Figure 2of the drawings. lVith the parts in the positions indicated'in Figure 2,the operator releases his grip on the first worksheet B, dropping saidsheet down the chute 4 between the sheet A in the machine and the platen13. He then releases the finger-piece 55, permitting the otherwork-sheets to return to their original positions in the hopper, androtates the platen backward by means of one of the knobs 19 to draw thenew sheet B down to locate its old writing line at the printing point.The tally strip T i s-not affected by this backward feeding of theplaten. The newly-inserted sheet B may be adjusted accurately byreference to wingscales 58 and then line-spaced to locate the nextsucceeding writing line at the'printing point. This line-spacing alsoadvances the tally-strip T to bring a blank line upon it to the printingpoint. lVhen the writing on the sheet B has been completed the sheet Bis used as a front-insertion guide for the succeeding sheet, and isfinally discharged at the rear of the platen into a sheet-accumulatingreceptacle 59. This receptacle includes the usual rear paper-table 60,an extension or. floor member 61 hinged thereto by a rod 62, and sidewalls 63. The

, floor-member is supported in part by brackets 64 mounted on the endsof the platen frame, the brackets 64: being secured to the platen-frameby screws 65 which also help to secure the tally-strip brackets 24 inplace. Thumb-screws 66 secure the floor-member 61 to the brackets 64.The floor-member 61 has a rearwardly-curved upper end 67, and the upperends of the side walls 63 are similarly curved and are bent back uponthemselves, as seen at 68 in Figure 1, to embrace the curved end 67 ofthe floor-men'iber 61. Screws 69 pass through the plies of the from themachine.

It will be seen that the sheets are thus maintainedin the same orderfrom day to day, so that they can be put through the machine again andagain. in the same sequence without having to berearranged.

The location and arrangement of the hopper enables the sheets to beplaced in itfac-- ing outward, toward the operator. This affords asafeguard against errors since the operator can see at a glance whetherthe card he is about to insert corresponds with the memorandum fromwhich he is to copy.

Should the operator inadvertently pass two sheets around the platentogether, he will be likely to discover the discrepancy betweenthework-sheet and the memorandum at once and correct it before any typinghas been incorrectly done.

' It will thus be understood that I have provided a device-for mountingand successively feeding sheets or cards to the platen of a typewriter,wherein the sheets are supported resting against an upright holder, witha bottom support engaging the lower edges of the sheets; and means arefurther provided for moving thev sheets, or the front sheet, away fromsuch bottom support; and which means is controlled by a member operableat the upper part of the holder, in convenient position to be engaged,by the fingers of the operator. By means of this arrangement the frontsheet is easily separated from the other sheets and released to fall bygravity into the chute that will direct it to the platen of the machine.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention. I claim: v

1. A typewriting machine arranged to facilitate the passing of asuccession of worlr sheets through the machine in the same sewhich theyare to be typed. means for guiding the wort-sheets from the ho per totheplaten at the front thereof, an an-aocumulating receptacle on thecarriage at the rear of the platen in which the work-sheets are in whichthey were arranged in the hopper, wherefore they may be placed again inthe hopper and typed in the same order without rearrangement.

A typewriting machine arranged to facilitate the passing of a successionof worksheets through the machine in the same sequence again and againand to produce a composite record of the entries made on all of them,having, in combination, a traveling carriage, a revoluble'platenjournaled thercin, a hopper on the carriage above the platen for holdingthe work-sheets preparatory to typing, means for guiding the work-sheetsfrom the hopper to the front of the'platen, tally-strip mechanism,platen-feeding means for rotating the platen independently of thetally-strip mechanism to draw the last previously written line on theinserted worksheet down to printing position while the tally-strip isstationary, line-spacing mechanism arranged to line-space thetally-strip and work-sheet together, and an accumulating receptacle atthe rear of the platen to i receive the work-sheets and accumulate themautomatically in the same order in which they were arranged in thehopper.

3. In a typewriting machine,in combination, a traveling carriage, arevoluble platen journaled therein, tally-strip mechanism directing atally-strip to a definite field of the platen, and a combined hopper andworkguiding chute on the carriage for storing work-sheets preparatory totyping and for directing themone by one to the platen, said combinedhopper and work-guiding chute being adjustable longitudinally of theplaten to cause a predetermined field of the worksheets to be superposedon the tally-strip.

4:. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, arevoluble platen journaled therein, a hopper above the platen forstoring Work-sheets pre aratory to typing, said hopper having si e wallsextending down to the platen, means for adjusting the width of thehopper between the side walls to direct work-sheets of different widths,an accumulating receptacle at the discharge side of the platen foraccumulating the work-sheets without attention from the operator, saidreceptacle having side walls, and means for adjusting the side walls ofthe accumulating receptacle in accordance with the adjustment of theside walls of the hopper.

5. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a revoluble platen, ahopper above the platen for storing work-sheets preparatory to typing, achute for guiding the worksheets downward to the platen, manuallyoperable ejecting mechanism for moving the lower edge of a sheet to beinserted in the machine clear of the hopper bottom and into tending toand around the platen, an extension of said shelf hinged thereto,brackets on the ends of the platen-frame to assist in supporting saidextension and to fix the position thereof, and side walls on theextension adjustable therealong to adapt the receptacle to accumulatesheets fed around diflerent fields of the platen and to accumulatesheets of different widths.

7 In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, aplaten therein, a hopper mounted on the carriage above the platen forholding a quantity of work-sheets in conveniently accessible positionfor introduction around the platen, said hopper comprising a floorportion for supporting the sheets on edge and a rear wall against whichthe sheets normally rest, a chute for directing the sheets from thehopper down to the platen, and a manually operable ejector for movingthe lower edge of a sheet to v be inserted clear of the banner floor andinto position to pass down the chute.

8 In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, aplaten therein, a hopper on the carriage above the platen to holdwork-sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction to theplaten, a sheet-guiding chute for .directing the sheets from the hopperto the platen, said hopper comprising a floor to support the Work-sheetson edge and a rear wall against which the work-sheets rest, and aworksheet ejector comprising means for thrusting the lower ends of thework-sheets clear of the hopper and an operating handle adjacent theupper end of the hopper, the arran ement being such that the, operatorwhi e clamping the upper ends of all but the first of the work-sheetsagainst the rear wall of the hopper may actuate the handle of theejector with another finger of the same hand to thrust the lower ends ofthe work-sheets clear of the hopper and thereby move the firstwork-sheet to a position to be dropped down the chute to the platen.

9. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, aplaten therein, a hopper on the carriage above the platen to holdwork-sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction to theplaten, said hopper comprising right and left sections independentlyadjustable lengthwise of supported on edge in the hopper clear of thehopper to facilitate the introduction of one of said sheets to theplaten, said ejector comprising a rock shaft, rock-shaft hearings on thehopper sections, and collars adjustably fixed on the" rock-shaft to abutthe hearings on the hopper sections, whereby the rockshaft serves as abrace to prevent sagging of the hopper sections toward'each other underthe 'Weightof'the work-sheets.

10. In a typewriting machine, in combina' tion, a traveling carriage, aplaten therein, a hopper 'on'the carriage above the platen to holdworksheets in conveniently accessibleon t e rock-shaftarr'a'nged to actthrough the openings in the rear wall, and means for securin ent adjustspositions on therock-shaft corresponding to, the adjustments of the hop:per sections.

11. In atypewriting machine, in combina tion, a traveling carriage, aplaten therein,

a hopper on the carriage above the platen to hold Work-sheets inconveniently accessible 1 positions ior introduction to the platen, saidhopper comprising right and left comple' mental sections, an ejector tofacilitate the removal of work-sheets from the hopper one by one,comprising a rock-shaft, and cooperating means on the hopper sectionsand on the rock shaft to enable the rock-shaft to serve also as a bracefor theihopper-sections to revent sagging of the sections toward eacother. a v 12. In a typewriting machine, in combine tion, a travelingcarriage, a platen therein, a hopper on the carriage for holding a quantity of work-sheets in conveniently accessi his position forintroduction to the platen, and an ejector for assisting theintrodnctionof the work-sheets to the platen one by one, comprising right and leftejecting arms and common operating means for said arms.

13. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a travel ng carriage, aplaten therein,

a hopper on the carriage for holding a quan 1 tity of worksheets inconvenientlyaccessi his position for introduction to the platen, and anejector for assisting the introduction of the worksheets to the platenone ivy one, comprising right and left electing arms, means forrelatively adjusting said arms in accordance with the width of the work,and

common operating means for the arms.

the ejector members in differ:

1 4. In a typewritingmachine, in combinaahopper on the carriage forholding a quantity of work-sheets in conveniently accessition, atraveling carriage, a platen therein,- i

ble position for introduction to the platen,

and an ejector for assisting the introduction of the work-sheets to theplaten one by one, comprising right and left ejecting arms, a rock-shafton which the arms are last, an

finger-piece for actuating the handle to operate the ejector, and means"for returning the ejector to its original idle position when thefinger-piece is released bythe operator.

operating handle fast to the rock-shaft, 213

15. In a typewritingmachine, the combi- 30 nation with a carriage and aplaten, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of work-sheets 1nupright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheetsto the platen, said support ha v-ing a hot-tom 8 rest for the sheets attheirdower edges, a

rear wall support extending upward from said rest, and means arranged tocause a relative movement of the work-sheets and. said bottom restwhereby the front sheet is '90 brought beyond position supported by saidrest, and such sheet will fall )y-gr'avity when free to drop and be fedto the platen.

16. In atypewritin'gmachine, the combination with a carriage and aplaten, of a holder on the carriage to support a setof work-sheets inupright position and including a guiding means for directing-the sheetsto the platen. said support having a bottomv rest for the sheets attheir bottom edges, a 9

rear wall support extending upward from said rest, means arranged tocause a relative movement of the work-sheets and. said bottom restwhereby the front sheetis brought beyond position supported by saidrest, and" 1 such sheet will fall by gravity when' 'free to dropandbefed to the platen, and an operating member for said last-mentionedmeans remote from said rest. i

. 17. In a typewriting machine, the combi- 1 nation with a carriage anda platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of work-sheets inupright position and including a guiding means for directingthe sheetsto the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at theirbottom edges, a' rear wall support extending upward from said rest, andcontrol means arranged to dislodge the front sheet from said bottom restthat is manually operable at a place remote from said rest. I

18. In a-typewriting machine, the combination with acarriage and aplaten, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of worksheets inupright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheetsto the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at theirbottom edges, a

rearwall support extending upward .from said rest, and control meansarranged to dislodge the front work-sheet from the boting a guidingmeans for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having abottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a rear wall supportextending upward from said rest, means arranged to cause a relative suchsheet will fall b movement of the work-sheets and said bottom restwhereby the front sheet is brought beyond position supported by saidrest, and gravity when free to drop and be fed to t e platen, and anoperating member for said last-mentioned means extending to' the upperpart of the support.

- 20. In a nation with a carriage anda platen, of a holder on thecarriage to support a set of work-sheets in upright position andincluding a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, saidsupport having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a

rear wall extending upward from said rest, and a sheet ejectorcomprising means for thrustingthe lower edge of the front worksheetbeyond said support whereby such typewriting machine, the combimeow/easheet will fall, by gravity when free te drop and be fed to the platen.r

21. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage andapla'ten, of a holder on the carriage to supporter .set of work-sheetsin upright position and including a guiding means for directing thesheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheetsat their bottom ed s, a

rear wall extending upward from sai rest, a sheet ejector comprisingmeans for thrust-- ing the lower edge of the front work-sheet beyondsaid support whereby such sheet will fall-by gravity when free to dropand be fed to the platen, and an operating member for saidlast-mentioned means extending to the upper part of the support.

22. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage and aplaten, of a holder on'the carriage to support a set of work-sheets inupright position and includ ing a guiding means for directing the sheetsto the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at theirbottom edges, a rear wall extending upward from said rest, and a controlmember operable rearwardly at the upper part of the support and whichwill engage the sheets at their lower portions to shiftthem forward.

Jesse A, B. SMITH.

